What hurts the most
by Katsura369
Summary: Sakura is a cross hybrid who doesn't know about the soul society but uses her powers to fight hollows find out what happens when she meets Ichigo and he opens her eyes to a world she never thought existed. Full summary inside
1. Chapter 1

**This is another cross over with Sakura yeah I know I really am crazy over her; I love her so much! This isn't my first cross over for Sakura in bleach there's the story Welcome to my life and you're going to get to read her paired up with Byakuya! So this one it's going to be multi paired. **

**Summary **

**Sakura Haruno comes to Kara Kura town as a new transfer student but she's also a hybrid cross of a vizert; Quincy and also holds a similar power to Orihime's powers. She's always ahead of Ichigo and his friends when it comes to slaying hollows and is always missed but even with her powers she doesn't know anything about the soul society or what hollow's actually are. What happens when she is targeted by Aizen and the soul society; when Ichigo offers to help her she turns it down however he can be very persistent what's more it seems he thinks of her more than a friend but all she wants to focus on is slaying hollows and getting through the school year? **

**BTW-not sure I'm spelling everyone's names right but I promise I'll get it eventually! **

**I don't own bleach or Naruto because if I did you would have a wonderful cross over season! **

There was the last howl of a hollow as a handsome 16 year old teenage boy with short spikey orange hair and piercing brown eyes slashed with his large sword at the spider like hollow cutting it in half. He watched with a grin as it disappeared.

"Another Hollow down for the count" Ichigo said smirking after all his training and the fights he was glad to finally be back home for a while he had just gotten back from his battle with the bounts and things were finally getting back to normal for him well as normal as I could be. Rukia hadn't come back to the world of the living so he was stuck cleaning up the hollows on his own. It was too bad Rukia wasn't around though because it meant he had to let Kon stay in his body. Then there was also his soul reaper badge but it would mean passing out in the middle of class.

"Well now that that's done" Ichigo sighed happily "I should get back to school before Kon wrecks my reputation even further"

* * *

Ichigo arrived later at school during break to find Urihu and Chad trying to restrain Kon from going after any of the girls in the field; he remembered what happened the last time something like this went down he almost got expelled but luckily for him it was just a three day suspension sometimes he wondered why he bothered with Kon.

"Alright time to switch" Ichigo said going over to his friends who were trying to hold down Konwith all their might.

"Ichigo" Urihu called his glasses were cracked and his usually neat blue hair was dishrivled "Get back in your body now; we can't hold him much longer!"

"What the hell's going on?" Ichigo asked

"No" Kon begged "Please just let me stay a little longer I wanted to talk to that new cutie!"

Ichigo gave him a weird look "I've seen him get worked up over girls but never this much usually he would just pout and cry not punch and kick"

Kon continued to struggle but after he realised he wouldn't be breaking out of their death grip he stopped the struggles "Come on Ichigo I wanted to hook up with that new hotty please!"

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked

"He's smitten with the new girl" Chad explained calmly "You missed her introduction this morning when you left"

Ichigo raised his eyebrow and scratched the back of his head "Oh well anyway time to get back in"

At the mention of that Kon started struggling again "No….No; wait Ichigo just give me a few more minutes I was so close to groping her! She's got melons as big as Orihime's"

Ichigo felt a vein throb on his forehead good god he was so lucky his friends stopped Kon from jumping the new girl or this time he would've been expelled for sure. He was losing his reputation because of him!

Ichigo ignored Kon's pleas and got back into his body sighing heavily "So he didn't do anything else did he; no jumping anyone? Attacks"

They shook their heads "Surprisingly all he done was try and trudge after Haruno"

"Haruno" Ichigo asked

"The new girl" Urihu explained "Haruno Sakura"

"Oh yeah by the way" Chad started "You're her lab partner that's why Kon wanted to stay in your body a little longer and you're seated next to her"

"Oh" Ichigo said

"ICHIGO!" Kaigo called running over to him; he of course had the wind knocked out of him when Ichigo raised his fist and hit his friend square in the face.

"Kaigo what's going on?" Ichigo asked

Kaigo stood up from the ground recovering from the punch he grabbed Ichigo by his shirt and started shaking him "What the heck man? You lucky bastard you got the hot new girl as your lab partner! You have all the luck; why?! Fate is so cruel"

Ichigo shook his head why the hell was everyone making such a big deal over this…Sakura girl was she that good looking?

"Aw man" Kaigo whined

Mizuiro came over to them "What an idiot it was just dumb luck Keigo that Ichigo was the one paired up with her; I gotta admit though I am pretty just she's just been listed as one of the top girls in the school ranked up right with Orihime from what I heard the seniors say and she has an unusual natural hair colour like you Ichigo"

"Huh?" Ichigo gave them a blank look "You rank the girls?"

"Never mind that" Keigo said "How can you not be affected at all at the thought I mean did you even see her properly?"

'I haven't seen her at all' Ichigo thought back in his mind and it was the truth he didn't know why his friends were getting so worked up over this girl even Mizuiro who always went for older girls.

* * *

It was time for science now and Ichigo was sitting at his usual far end in the corner of the class room but the window of the double desk; class was just about to start and it seemed that almost all the guys in class were staring at him; well not staring more like glaring at him. He tensed slightly damn all this for the new girl?

"Alright students" the teacher called "Please open your text book to page-

'Oh shit' Ichigo thought 'I don't have it here!'

Suddenly the door swung open slightly and a timid voice could be heard; it sounded like little bells ringing softly.

"Um excuse me….." the teacher went over to the door "S-Sorry I'm late I got l-lost"

"Oh that's ok" the teacher smiled; she opened the door further "Come on in"

The teacher turned to the class "Now I'm sure some of you know her but I'm going to introduce her anyway this is Sakura Haruno…come on in dear don't be shy"

Ichigo looked away from the window and over to the teacher time to see what all the hub bub was about. He froze slightly.

"M-My names S-Sakura; Haruno Sakura"

There stood a beautiful girl with porcelain like doll features; she was petite but curvy and Kon wasn't kidding when he said her breasts were as big as Orihime's yet she was slightly shorter than her but taller than Rukia. She had long pink hair and emerald green eyes she really did look like a doll.

"Alright let's see" the teacher said looking at her seating paper "Go sit beside Kurosaki Ichigo"

Sakura turned to Ichigo and nodded before walking over to him; she haltingly took her seat as the lesson continued. She took out her text book then noticed Ichigo and poked his shoulder slightly.

"Um….excuse me" Sakura said rather shyly "Do you have your text book?"

"N-No I forgot it" Ichigo replied 'Why did I just stutter?' he thought

"Here" Sakura said moving her book and her chair a little closer to him so they could both see the book.

"Thank" Ichigo said

"You're welcome" Sakura gave a small smile

As the lesson progressed not much was said between the two but there was a feeling of death in the air and it was so directed at Ichigo and he knew it while Sakura seemed oblivious to it. They ended up doing an activity together and got grouped for an assignment which got him death dagger glares in return but like he could care less about that. They already knew not to mess with him but some idiots just don't learn their lesson plus people just looking at Chad scared them away.

The bell finally rang signalling freedom for Ichigo well for now "Oh hey Sakura" Ichigo called looking over to her "When do you want to work on the assignment?"

"Um" Sakura paused for a moment she was actually similar to Orihime in that sense of dazing off "How about tomorrow afternoon?"

"Sure you want to come to my place?" he asked

Sakura nodded "Sure"

Ichigo started heading out the class but stopped when he heard Sakura's voice again; turning around he saw some of the other guys gathering around her

"So you're the new girl Sakura that's a pretty name"

"Thanks" Sakura said oblivious that these guys were trouble

"I have to say you make that pink dyed hair look really hot"

Sakura twitched slightly but didn't seem to react that much "It's my natural hair colour"

"Well babe why you hanging around a punk like Ichigo you hear the rumours about him?"

Sakura cocked her head to the side "Rumours?"

"Yeah; he's a total delinquent; it's not good to be seen with him" one of the guys vouched

"Like I believe rumours" Sakura said in a soft voice "Now could you move please? I have to get through"

"Hey come on" the senior started reaching for her but his wrist was grabbed and he was flung over the other side of the class room; Ichigo sighed he was gonna get in a lot of trouble for this.

"If she she's move then your should do what she asked" Ichigo says calmly "Anyone else?" he asked looking at the other guys they all just tensed; gulped and fled the class room in an instant.

Ichigo sighed "Hey you ok?" he asked

Sakura smiled and nodded "Yeah don't worry about it that's been happening all day"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes "In every class?"

Sakura nodded "Yeah in English this morning; math; physics oh and PE was the worst then Geo"

Ichigo froze 'Wait; she's in all my classes?' he thought stupidly he had missed all his lessons today so he really shouldn't be surprised.

"Well if you want I'll set those guys straight" Ichigo offered

Sakura shook her head "No don't worry about it Kurosaki san I don't want to trouble you it's probably bad enough you were stuck with the new girl as your lab partner"

"No way; I'm glad we're lab partners" Ichigo interjected 'Wait why I just say that?'

"And please don't call me Kurosaki san that makes me seem so old just call me Ichigo"

Sakura bowed her head in thanks then started making her way out the class room "Thanks again; see you tomorrow Ichigo" with that she left the class room

As Ichigo walked home he couldn't seem to get the new girl out of his head; it was starting to scare him a little that it seemed he was getting attached to someone he literally just met in the last period. Suddenly as he was heading home he felt his badge start blinking. Another hollow; he sighed he just couldn't get a break today. He was about half way off from where he was heading but then it stopped blinking. Ichigo looked at it curiously.

"Is it broken?" he wondered

"Die hollow" a sugar sweet voice whispered in the night as she brought her blade down on the creature cutting it right down the middle; she watched as it dissolved into nothing and smiled happily.

"That takes care of that" Sakura smiled brightly "Time to head home"

With that her unusual soul reaper hakama; it ended mid-thigh and was frilled at the bottom with a white ribbon around her waist it was sleeveless but there was cut off black sleeves. She put her sword back in its sheath and changed back into her normal form unlike other soul reapers Sakura could change back and forth from her human to soul reaper form. However Sakura didn't know about other soul reapers.

Ichigo sighed he was halfway running for the hollow but then his badge just stopped so now he had to head back home which was all the way across town! Now he was going to have to rush home or he was going to be scolded for breaking curfew again not like he cared really though but it was getting really late. He passed through the towns markets that were just closing up. He stopped when he spotted a blob of dark pink.

"W-What the?" he blinked "S-Sakura? What's she doing?"

He saw Sakura leaving a café; she was wearing a light blue dress that ended at her knees with white frills and a white apron. She had on blue laced boots as well. Her pink hair was tied into two buns.

"Hey Sakura" Ichigo called going up to her; she turned around "Oh Ichigo; sorry we're just about to close up now"

Ichigo shook his head "No just thought I would come and say hello; you work here?"

Sakura nodded "Yeah"

"How come; I mean it's so late don't your folks know that?"

Giving him a sad smile she shook her head "Don't have any"

"Oh" Ichigo said softly "What about relatives"

"Don't have any" she replied casually like it wasn't a sore topic for her; she could see the confused look on his face "Well it's like this…I was kinda found and placed in an orphanage then one day when I was older I ran away and met this friend; he's my legal guardian but passed away recently so I'm living in a huge apartment rent free and although my guardian left me money to provide for myself I don't feel right touching it so….I work here at the café and do some computer programming"

Ichigo stared at her "Wow that must be hard"

Sakura shook her head "Not really I mean I'm use to the hours so it's fine"

"Yeah but what about school work"

"I get that done as well Ichigo" Sakura giggled

His eyes seemed to soften slightly at what she said; it made him wonder a little about her past but of course not enough to pry too much.

"Oh Ichigo" Sakura called waving her hand in front of his face

"Yeah?" he said finally noticing

"I have to get going now; see you at school tomorrow" she greeted walking off

Ichigo stood there for a while "Yeah see you at school"

**Ok I know that this chapter is short and I probably didn't get everyone's names right and I most likely misspelled a lot of things but I promise I will improve on that and I promise to leave you in a bit more suspense after all I'm sure most of you didn't like that I got Sakura and Ichigo so close so fast right? I just finished this chapter after dealing with my no good annoying little sister so I was very tense when I wrote this chapter and just wanted to get it done. **

**Anyway despite that…**

**REVIEW **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone; the first chapter got me pretty pissed because it wasn't how I wanted it to be even though I wrote it that's what happens when my sister ticks me off so much that I can barely think about anything else other than killing her! **

**I'm giving a heads up here I've only ever watched Bleach in English dub not sub so I'm not used to using Japanese terms for them and when it comes to spelling so please forgive me. **

**Read and Enjoy **

* * *

The next two days had gone by pretty normal for him well as normal as it could be for him; there weren't any hollow attacks so that was as close to day off he was getting even though he still had school. He still couldn't stop thinking about that night; there was something nagging him in the back of the head but he couldn't place it. Sakura had arrived at school and it seemed like she was in her own world; the guys were still drooling over her like she was a piece of meat but she didn't seem to notice any of them. She constantly seemed to be looking at a book or writing or even on her phone but he hadn't actually seen her talking to anyone not that he was stalking her she was just in all his classes and she wasn't hard to spot being the only girl in school with pink hair. A teacher had actually warned her that dying her hair that kind of colour wasn't allowed but shut up after she told him it was natural he had the same problem when he first came here; his dad had to actually confirm with them that it was his real hair colour god he felt like just dying that day but he wondered how Sakura had gotten off so easily considering that she didn't have any family to confirm it from what he knew

He had thought about going to ask Sakura to have lunch with him and his friends but she had left the class room the minute the bell had gone and he noticed that during lunch break Sakura had just seemed to disappear; it hadn't seemed like she made many friends either; the guys were sure trying but it seemed she was at least smart enough to know what their games were. The girls had a hard time getting to her with all the guys coming after her. Though she seemed rather quiet whenever the girls tried to talk to her she didn't act that way towards him though at least not outside of school yet in school she was very timid even more than usual; well they had science today so he would take that chance to try and make friends with her. Try and figure out why she was behaving like this it almost seemed like she was trying to keep her distance from people right now. Well second break had started and as usual she was gone he wondered where she went?

* * *

Sakura sighed; she had half an hour to make sure there weren't any hollows running around town before heading back so she could eat her lunch; she was starving! She hadn't gotten to eat first break because she knew that there were going to be hollow attacks; Sakura didn't know how but before time she could feel when one of those monsters would attack so she always showed up ahead. She didn't know how she had this power; she didn't know who gave them to her she didn't know much about it all she knew was that she had to kill those monsters because she saw what they could do and that was all she had ever done with her power.

Sakura saw the hollow emerging near the park before it could even get it's body out of the portal she had taken its head off with a single stroke; she felt around for a while for any signs of other hollows coming and sighed in relief nothing for today which means if she headed back now she would get fifteen minutes break!

Sakura arrived back at school coming up from the roof quickly changing back into her visible form before settling down where she had left her lunch and her books but when she turned around it wasn't there.

"Huh?" she said looking from side to side "My lunch!"

"Did you hear that?" she heard a voice ask

Sakura placed a hand over her mouth and peered behind the wall on the other side of the roof where she saw Ichigo and his friends sitting; she looked at Ichigo and saw him…..holding her lunch and her book bag!

'Shoot' she thought; her stomach softly growled 'Waaaah now I won't get to eat and I can't let them know I'm here; I better get going' she thought glumly as she jumped off the roof and landed softly on the ground bellow; no one was at the back of the school so it was fine. She slumped down and sat there for a while waiting; her name was on the books and on the lunch time so she was sure Ichigo would be returning it to her during their last period now all she had to do was wait.

Her stomach growled again; Sakura twitched and pulled at her hair "Easier said than done when you're this hungry"

* * *

Soon enough though the bell had gone and it was last period so she could get her things by Ichigo; god she hoped he still had it. Sakura saw Ichigo sitting there already with his head turned to the window. She wondered why he was always looking over there all the time.

"Oh hey" Ichigo greeted he held out her bag and lunch "This is yours right?"

Sakura pretended to look surprised; her eyes widened and her mouth agape at her blue book bag and her neatly wrapped lunch tin "Oh thank you"

Handing it over to Ichigo she smiled brightly at him suddenly and Ichigo felt his heart skip a beat but then he heard a growling sound followed by a blushing and flustered Sakura who wasn't sure how to reply to her stomach's angry growls but she couldn't eat now in class. She just had to calm her stomachs cries to be filled; soon the teacher arrived and told them to start preparing for their assignments. While the other students were already chatting about some talking about their work others were taking up their 'free period' with small talk to fill in the time.

"So" Ichigo started after a while "Do you have any thoughts on the assignment"

Sakura tilted her head slightly in a thinking manner "Well let me see….we have to do an observation experiment then write up a report that shouldn't take too long to do; how about this weekend we meet up?"

"Sure" Ichigo replied

"Should we work on it at your house?" Sakura asked

Ichigo thought about it for a while; let's see if they went to his house his sisters wouldn't really get in the way when he thinks about it; Karin would be out most likely playing soccer with her friends and Yuzu…probably doing the chores at home or playing with her dolls and his dad….at that mental thought he instantly tensed; let's see thinking about what happen every time he brought a girl home…..

'HELL NO!' he thought

"N-No how about I just come over to you?" he asked

Sakura nodded "Sure but we have to do it this Saturday I'm kinda swamped a lot on the weekends"

"Don't you ever take a break?" Ichigo asks with a glint of concern in his eyes

"Well…I like to move around a lot" she replied sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. If he knew what she was really up to like fighting hollows she wouldn't know what he would think (remember he doesn't know shes' a soul reaper yet)

Sakura wrote down her address and gave him her phone number "Thanks" she nodded and turned her attention back to her bag; she took out an art book and started to draw. Ichigo peered over her shoulder slightly she was drawing…...what looked like a sword; it had a very interesting shape as well; the blade was thinned and it had what looked like ribbons swirling at the end with feathers attached to it. It was amazing then he could see her start to draw a hand…with dark petal like patterns on it.

"Wow that's really good" Ichigo complemented causing Sakura to jump

"Thanks" she said in a timid voice

They sat in silence for a while; Sakura holding her sketch book her eyes closed and a smile on her face directed at Ichigo while he just stared at her he started to think that there was something he wanted to say to her but now he couldn't recall what it was until the bell rang ten seconds later. Sakura turned her attention back to the front of the class and stood up; she grabbed her things and headed out the class after saying bye to him that's when he suddenly remembered. He wanted to ask her about how she was coping here and wanted to ask her where she disappeared to every lunch break; he figured that she had to be on the roof now since he found her bag and lunch there but…..he usually sits up there with his friends and he doesn't recall seeing her coming or going for the past two days there he was sure he would've noticed.

'What's with her?' he thought 'And why the hell am I so interested?' he wondered suddenly

* * *

The last few days had just flown by; Ichigo hadn't had a lot of hollow attacks and usually when he arrived at the place the hollows spiritual pressures were long gone and nothing was left of it. He wondered if they went back before they came; it was a strange development but it wasn't like he was complaining although if they kept this up he was going to run out of practice. He had continued trying to get Sakura to open up to him little by little but it wasn't working…nothing was. She talked to him yes but it was usually just about school work.

"Another one gone" Ichigo asked irritated at the fact that he had just run over to the park for nothing again and while leaving Kon in his body to continue to damage his reputation. He sighed and flash stepped back to school as he flew over the school building he spotted Sakura on the roof but it was behind the extra equipment shed; so that was where she was every break well at least now he knew where to find her. It looked like she was just about to start eating her lunch now yet the bell had gone nearly ten minutes ago. He spotted Kon and the others as well they were in the gardens; he wanted to get back into his body as soon as possible then maybe he could catch Sakura before she disappeared again and before the bell rang. And without wasting any time he had done just that he ran over to Kon and returned to his body before bolting into the building trying to get to the roof but before he could get there the bell had gone and it was time for class.

* * *

'Maybe another time' he thought then quickly snapped 'Why the heck do I care so much?'

Ichigo cursed he realised his next class was on the other side of the building and if he was late he was going to detention and it was not something you wanted on a Friday; without noticing really where he was going he felt something bump into him and saw a flash of pink. He looked down and saw Sakura sitting on the floor with her books having fallen out of her bag.  
She looked up and he saw something flash in her eyes it looked like anger to him "Oh sorry Ichigo" she apologised "I didn't see where I was going"

Sakura quickly finished packing away her books back into her bag "S-Sorry Sakura" he said offering his hand which she quickly took he realised just how small her hand was in his and it was soft.

"Thanks" she said

He nodded before swiftly pulling her up; a little too swiftly causing her to lose her balance and trip a little over her feet causing Ichigo to reflexively hold onto her; she ended with her head in his chest. Ichigo felt a small blush running up his face; Sakura slowly moved away.

"S-Sorry" she said quickly "I didn't mean to trip"

"T-That's alright" he said trying to calm his racing heart

"Um shouldn't you be heading to class?" she asked suddenly looking at the clock

He suddenly freaked "Oh no that's right" he was about to run off before he turned to say bye to Sakura but when he turned around she was gone and he wondered suddenly how she moved so fast. Maybe she was late for class as well? Oh who was he kidding she could just use the 'I got lost excuse' she would be fine; him on the other hand looks like his weekend was going to start an hour late literally.

* * *

"Hey Ichi-nii welcome home" Yuzu greeted as Ichigo came into the house

"Hey Yuzu where's Karin?" he asked looking around for his dark haired tomboy sister

"Oh she's out still playing a match" Yuzu replied "I'm making stew for dinner"

"Alright" Ichigo said going into his room

Turning on his light Ichigo threw his bag to the corner of the room and landed on his bed letting out a huge sigh; it was getting really boring not being able to kill Hollows and there hasn't been much activity after the Bounts incident and no one had any leads on Aizen this was getting so boring without being able to use his powers but in a way it was still calming as well though he really needed the practice.

"Geez is someone else killing them off?" he thought

"Ichigo" Kon shouted coming out of his back pack "Why'd you do that? I was still in there!"

"Shut up Kon" Ichigo ordered suddenly getting in a bad mood "I'm not in the mood for this"

"AH you stupid-

"Yuzu" Ichigo shouted suddenly and in she came with an apron on and a spoon in her hand.

"Something wrong?" she asked

"I found you doll" he said pointing to Kon who was glaring at him as he lied still on the floor pretending to be a lifeless stuffed animal.

"Oh there it is" she said happily taking it in her arms and walking away quickly out of her brother's room.

Ichigo sighed at least that left him for a bit of peace and quiet until Kon snuck out of his sisters room; he heard his phone start ringing in his pocket; he flipped it and answered.

"Hello?" he heard a sugar sweet voice at the end of the phone

"Hey Ichigo It's Sakura" she greeted "Are you still going to be able to make it tomorrow?"

"Oh hey Sakura" Ichigo swore he felt his heart beat suddenly "Yeah it's fine why are you busy?"

"No" he heard her reply "It's fine I just wanted to make sure you were still coming what time by the way?"

"How about 10?" he asked

"Perfect" Sakura replied

"Ok" Ichigo said "I'll see you there"

"Yeah bye" Sakura replied hanging up

"Bye" Ichigo said looking at the screen

Well I know I ended the chapter really fast but I couldn't think of how to continue it so I'm going to start on the next one immediately and do my best to try and get it up to more pages alright so for now just REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome to the third chapter of what hurts the most and I have to say it's been a while. Well I finally got the chance to write this chapter after so long so I hope you enjoy. Oh and in case I forget to mention this in future chapters there's going to be a bit of Sakura multi character romance for future chapters only but not right now though. **

**So just READ AND ENJOY **

* * *

"This should be the place" Ichigo thought to himself looking around the doors of the apartments around; he couldn't believe still that she lived in such a large building. He rang the doorbell and waited.

"Coming" he heard a voice call and he could tell that it was Sakura's

The door finally opened and out came Sakura wearing a light blue dress that ended just above her knees with white stockings. She smiled at him.

"Hey Ichigo" she said happily as she moved to make room for him to come through the door "Come on in"

Ichigo stepped in and looked around; her place was huge no wonder she worked all the time; he couldn't help but imagine what it must be like trying to maintain this place on your own even if it is rent free it still must be hard to maintain this kind of living for a high school student.

"Wow" he said looking around the apartment "This place is so big for just one person"

Sakura nodded "Yeah; it is nice but it can get lonely but I don't really feel like I have much of a right to sell it since it really didn't belong to me however I was told that my guardian had created this place for me to live in even though I wanted to turn down the offer I didn't have anywhere else to go so I came here since I think he wanted me to come to this town for some reason I'm not sure why though anyway please make yourself comfortable do you want anything to drink?"

Shaking his head Ichigo sat on the couch in front of the TV set; he wondered how many rooms were in this so called 'apartment' it looked more like a pent house in his opinion. Sakura sat beside him and saw Ichigo looking at the pictures that were hanging on the walls at the back and on the sides of the room.

"Oh that's my guardian his name was Kyo" Sakura explained

"He looks so young" Ichigo observed

"He was twenty one; he took over his father's company when he was eighteen" Sakura explained her tone becoming a bit softer "We met out of pure coincidence and after he found about my situation he offered to take care of me I don't know why though" she sighed "He died not long ago this year"

"Sorry to hear that" Ichigo said

Sakura shook her head and smiled "No it's alright really; I'm fine now I do wish however I had somehow found a way to repay him anyway let's get started on the project"

"Oh yeah" Ichigo agreed almost forgetting the reason he had come here "We're doing blood circulation in humans right; so how do you want to go about it?"

"Well according to the assignment we have to do a physical comparison" Sakura stated looking at the work sheet; she set down a stop watch.

"Here we can start by drawing up a table in comparing the differences between your heart rate and my own during these series of events" Sakura explained "First let's take each other's count on how many pulses per second first we start at the neck then the wrist and then our hearts"

Ichigo nodded; Sakura drew up the table to take down the analysis and they started. Taking his hand she placed it at the spot she felt her pulse and had him press down on it slightly and timed him to start counting.

"You have about seventy beats per minute" he said taking away his finger and writing down the observation.

"Ok your turn" Sakura said as she started feeling around Ichigo's neck for his pulse; he had to admit her fingers were really tiny and soft and he could smell her sweet scent but it wasn't perfume it was something else

"Here" she said finally finding the pulse; she turned on the timer and started counting

Ichigo kept his face blank but having Sakura this close to him was stirring something up inside of him he was trying to contain; he couldn't have his pulse speeding up during this and then lie by telling her it was normal….right?

She pulled away and wrote it down "About ninety beats" she confirmed "Wow that's a lot" she murmured

"Now it's your wrist pulse should be the same" he said as he gently took Sakura's wrist in his hand once again realising how tiny it was compared to his; she seemed very fragile.

Once Sakura was finished charting down Ichigo she went continued "Now the chest"

She placed her hand on Ichigo's chest until she could feel his heart beat; this was the hardest to keep track of because the beats were so faint. She timed him; Ichigo held still staring down at her; her dark pink locks covering most of her face.

"Alright I'm done" she said looking up at him "My turn"

"Uh….right" Ichigo gulped there was just one problem with this when it came to her because she was so…over developed was a way of putting it he wasn't going to be able to avoid touching her breast like this because of its size.

"Here" Sakura said placing his hand gently near the middle of her chest but just slightly over her breast and pressed his hand down "There"

Ichigo felt a light blush stain his cheeks before he started timing and it felt rather long before that minute was over. He quickly removed his hand and wrote down with shaking hands he almost lost count.

After a while they had finally finished the observations and wrote a report; Sakura smiled brightly as she and Ichigo finished cleaning up the place; the report was done and it looked pretty good. It had only taken about two hours to finish it off now and that was a twenty page report. Sakura was happy she was going to be able to take a break for once; she was tired she had to admit she was….it wasn't easy keeping jobs she knew she didn't need; she had already decided to quit her night time job because she had recently learned that your aren't allowed to have a part time jobs because it's against school regulations at least that's what they say though she found it stupid she decided she had to do it; however she kept her job at the hospital not just for the money but because of the unsettling urge to want to heal people she didn't know why she was like this but she was and she had accepted it.

"Wow" Ichigo said looking at the clock "It's still pretty early"

"Yeah; I'm glad though now I can finally check out the town; I haven't really had a chance since I moved here I was mostly…working" Sakura said that was true though; all she done was work if it wasn't at her paid jobs it was her job as a soul reaper hunting down hollow's they seemed to be increasing a lot though so she didn't have time for a second job anymore but she never told anyone she quit not that she really had anyone to tell. If she made friends at school then with time they might suspect her and then…who knows they might find out about her. Sakura didn't want that; it would be easier to keep her distance from everyone and that included Ichigo.

"Cool how about I show you around?" Ichigo asked

Sakura looked up at him with slightly wide eyes "Um….I don't know"

"Well you don't really know your way around here right?" he asked "There isn't really much to show though but that's just my opinion but how about just hanging out for today?"

Hesitantly after a while Sakura agreed; though she didn't want to get any further attached to the orange haired boy more than she was already there was something about him that felt different to her in a way she couldn't explain. She might just want his friendship more than she was starting to believe. Oh well she figured she might as well try and enjoy herself a little and it was just one day right? She wanted to see the town be able to take in the scenery without worrying about being devoured whole; though she didn't want to get any further attached to the orange haired boy more than she was already there was something about him that felt different to her in a way she couldn't explain. She might just want his friendship more than she was starting to believe. Oh well she figured she might as well try and enjoy herself a little and it was just one day right? She wanted to see the town be able to take in the scenery without worrying about being devoured whole and this was the perfect time she didn't have work and she had someone offering to show her around might as well.

"Sure" Sakura smiled standing up "Give me a few minutes please; I'll be done soon I promise"

She quickly ran into her room to get her shoes and bag before running back into the living room where Ichigo was waiting patiently; she had to admit she found that rather strange since he didn't seem like the type of person that had patience but you can't judge a book by its cover. Following Ichigo out; she locked the door behind her before they both headed out of the building.

* * *

She had to admit that Karakura was actually a very nice town; Ichigo had shown her around and took her to what he believe was the best places though he said he wasn't a very good tour guide she though he don't a decent job to say the least; she was surprised when he offered to show her around. He didn't seem like the friendly type since she noticed he was scowling half of the time. After walking around town for a while getting to know the ropes around the area; like where she was recommended to go and where she shouldn't go and where she definitely should go. Ichigo took her to the shopping areas in town; it was actually also near the café.

"So you quit?" Ichigo asked

Sakura nodded "Yeah; I'm just going to take a part time job at the hospital for now"

"Hospital?" Ichigo asked

Sakura nodded "Yup; that's right I'm going to be a part time nurse there for now it pays better than at the café though it was fun"

"Fun waiting tables?" he asked cocking his head to the side slightly

Sakura giggled and nodded "Yeah but not as much as I do healing people" she started looking around again "Wow Karakura really is a nice place; oh can we go to the arcade?"

Ichigo nodded "Yeah sure"

They went to the arcade; they got some tokens and started playing; Sakura first wanted to try the whack a mole game with Ichigo before they began playing air hockey.

"I'm going to win this one Sakura" Ichigo smirked slightly it's been a while since he came to the arcade.

"Don't bet on it Ichigo" Sakura replied sweetly as she served the puck over to his side only to have him hit it back. She leaned over to table to get a better chance of hitting the puck faster as it came to her. Ichigo hit it back to her going back and forth from each other. They were soon tied nine-nine just one more point. Sakura passed the puck back to him before he passed it on to her.

"Ichigo!" a voice called before a figure bumped into Ichigo making him trip slightly giving Sakura the chance to hit the puck and win the game.

"I win" she cheered bouncing up and down

"That's not fair" Ichigo said he looked down on the floor at Keigo who he knocked to the floor. "What are you doing here Kaigo?"

Standing up Keigo glared at him "What am I doing here? What are you doing here with the new hot chick? On a date are we? I never thought-

"Shut up" Ichigo groaned "I'm showing her around town"

"Ah" Keigo yelled and pointed at him "So you are on a date? You selfish sneak! You're dating one of the hottest chicks in school and you didn't even tell me"

Sakura blushed "Um; we aren't-

"Tell me something Ichigo how in the world did you get a girl like Sakura to go out with-

He continued ranting on while Ichigo just attempted to block him out of his head; he sighed and hit Keigo hard on the head "Shut up will ya; come on Sakura's let's go"

* * *

Sakura and Ichigo decided head over to the mall for lunch; they stopped at the food court after finally losing Kaigo. Ichigo was still fuming about it.

"Man that guy really needs to stop jumping to conclusions" Ichigo sighed heavily and bit into his burger "Sorry about that"

Sakura shook her head and smiled "No; it's fine and thanks for treating"

"Sure no problem" Ichigo replied coolly

Ichigo nodded and took a sip of his soda "But I think this is kinda just like a date and I wouldn't really mind"

Spitting out his soda Ichigo stared wide eye at her "T-That's-

Sakura giggled at Ichigo's flushed expression and reached a napkin out for his face and gently wiped the soda on his face away.

"You're so funny Ichigo" she laughed

"I'm not" Ichigo shot back frowning slightly which quickly turned into a small smile

Sakura apologised quickly and settled back down trying to finish off her meal "This town is great; thanks for showing me around"

"Sure thing" Ichigo said blushing slightly

Sakura smiled and stood up; she looked around the mall area "Well where to now?" she asked a little excited

Ichigo stood up "Uh; well" he scratched the back of his head "I'm really not sure where else I didn't really plan on becoming a tour guide to be honest"

"How about the movies?" Sakura asked it's been a while since she had gone there and watched something.

Ichigo nodded; the two of them went to go and check what movies were playing and were trying to decide what to watch.

"Hey this just came out" Sakura pointed

Ichigo looked at it "The Conjuring" he murmured looking at her a little surprised

Sakura playfully stuck out her tongue at him "Don't be fooled by appearances Ichigo; horrors happens to be one of my favourite genres"

"Why's that?" Ichigo asked curiously

Sakura shrugged "I'm not sure"

The truth was it was fun watching horror movies because it usually meant watching someone else slay monsters instead of her. It gave her a sense of relaxation because it was like someone else was working hard instead of her.

* * *

After getting the tickets and popcorn they headed into the cinema taking their seats. As the lights went off Ichigo looked around and noticed that there were a few couples around them; the girls clinging to their boyfriends; any guess would be it was the guys who chose the movie to get the girls to do that and the movie hadn't even started yet at least he didn't have to worry about the couples making out at least he hoped the sight of blood and decaying bodies ruined that mood.

The movie started and about an hour into it half of the people were whining and whimpering about it. Ichigo and Sakura watched the movie in silence for a while; Ichigo let his eyes wander over to Sakura's face alright he had to admit Keigo was right she was really pretty but come on he wasn't someone who gave into temptation….no a man like him doesn't give into temptation…at least for now.

Ichigo felt something squeeze his hand and saw Sakura holding it lightly; his eyes widened and he blushed; she was still looking at the screen though her eyes didn't move away from it; he thought about telling to move her hand but then it felt so nice and warm. He just turned back to watching the screen it wasn't like this was a bad thing in any case but if anyone saw then here they would think they were on a date and rumours would spread for sure. Unknowingly to Ichigo there were actually a couple of students from the school there themselves but steered clear from him. So let's say that this little 'date' was to remain a secret so naturally the whole school would know soon.

When the movie ended everyone started making their way out of the cinema. Sakura and Ichigo stood up still hand in hand.

"Oh sorry about that" Sakura said looking down at her hand; Ichigo smiled and grasped it a little tighter

"That's alright" he didn't know why he was doing this but he decided to just go with it. Sakura gave him a small smile; she was happy because she just realised she really made her first real friend.

They walked out of the mall together Sakura glanced at her watch and sighed "Joy it's already seven and I still have to go grocery shopping I can't believe I forgot guess I had so much fun it slipped my mind"

Ichigo looked at her "Uh….." he started thinking about how he was going to say this without looking like he was coming on which he wasn't really "My sisters a great cook and usually makes more than enough to go around. You can eat dinner at my house if you want just to warn you though my dad's a real nut job"

Sakura nodded slowly "Sure"

* * *

They got to Ichigo's house and everyone was already home; Sakura saw that his family ran the local clinic at first she thought that Ichigo's last name was familiar and now she knew why; a reference was given to this clinic for Sakura but she had turned down the offer and decided to just stay at the hospital; she wondered if she would've met Ichigo sooner had she taken a job here but this was a family clinic so chances were slick.

"I'm home" Ichigo said

"Hey welcome back" Karin said coming down the stairs; she looked over at Sakura "Who's this?"

"This is Sakura" Ichigo said calmly

"When did you get a girlfriend?" Karin asked slightly shocked; she did say once that he had to bring someone at least as hot as Orihime to surprise her and boy was she surprised he pulled it off.

Ichigo gritted his teeth "She's not-

"You're late" someone shouted and the next thing you knew Ichigo hit the wall on the other side of the house. Sakura gasped and ran over to him clearly not knowing that this was routine in here. Sakura saw a man with dark spikey hair about in his forties standing over Ichigo.

"You dropped your guard" he said

Ichigo stood up "Geez dad could you at least try and control yourself in front of guests?" he asked

Sakura ran over to him and held her hand to his cheek where he was hit and maybe it was just his imagination but the pain from the mark was vanishing.

Of course the moment was ruined once again by his dear family; his father gaped at Sakura.

"Uh this is Sakura; she staying over for dinner. Hope that's alright Yuzu?" Ichigo asked

Yuzu smiled and nodded "Of course; I made more than enough; it's nice to meet you Miss Sakura"

Sakura smiled "Just call me Sakura please" she bowed "It's a pleasure to meet you"

"Oh hey now I remember Sakura Haruno; you're that new hot chick at Ichigo's school" Karin said in a monotone "So how did you pick her up Ichigo?"

Ichigo glared at her; he was going to get her back for this one way or another and how on earth did she know about Sakura she must really be popular but then again it wasn't a surprise really.

"You're just in time to" Yuzu said walking to the set table "Dinner's already finished; I hope you like curry"

Sakura nodded and sat down beside Ichigo and Karin who was staring her a bit strangely but they didn't really notice. They ate in a ruckus of course; with Ichigo and his dad fighting and Yuzu asking all these questions to Sakura who wasn't sure how to answer most of them since they involved her brother what Sakura wasn't able to tell Yuzu was that she and Ichigo were just friends because she was constantly blubbering.

"So Sakura where did you live before you came here?" Yuzu asked

After chewing and swallowing her food she turned to Yuzu "Well I've lived lots of places before this; Okinawa's one of them"

"Wow" Yuzu gasped getting really bubbly now "That's amazing"

"Thanks" Sakura blushed rubbing the back of her head

"So you and Ichigo were on a date all day?" Karin asked knowing it was going to piss off her brother which it did. He almost choked on his food and glared at Karin.

"It wasn't a date we were just hanging out" he defended

"Where did you go?" Yuzu asked

"All over town; then to the arcade; then for lunch and then to the movies" Sakura said

Ichigo's dad went over to the poster of his wife and cried dramatically "Oh my dear wife; our son's growing up so fast!"

"Would you knock it off" Ichigo yelled at him "Don't do that in front of company or people are going to think there's something wrong with you and send you to a mental institution!"

After a very disturbing but active dinner Sakura offered to help clean up the dishes but Yuzu declined her offer not wanting to impose on a guest she told her. Sakura and Ichigo went up to his room for a little while; Ichigo sat down on his chair by his desk and sighed.

"Sorry about my family" he said

Sakura looked around his room it was a bit empty; there wasn't much in it; there was a built in closet; his bed was by the window and his desk was right opposite it.

"Oh no it's fine I really like them" she said slightly flushed; Sakura sat on the end of the bed

Ichigo sighed "Yeah but they have this habit of always over doing things" he said

Shaking her head she laughed "It's been a while since I've had any experience like this in a while"

"What you mean like a family dinner?" Ichigo asked

Sakura nodded and then he remembered she lived alone and didn't have any real family what's more she hated to be a burden to people so she never really met up with anyone.

"Sorry" Ichigo muttered thinking he hit a sore spot of hers but she didn't flinch

"No need to apologise" Sakura told him holding her hands up; she was used to being alone and she usually didn't have a lot of time to think about being alone because she had a lot on her plate.

Ichigo looked around the room suddenly and realised that Kon was missing; he wondered where he could be?

"Oh how cute" Sakura chanted bending down to pick up something Ichigo gasped slightly when he saw her pick up Kon; holding him up in the air.

"Does it belong to Yuzu?" Sakura asked Ichigo holding it a little close to her chest; Ichigo gritted his teeth.  
"Uh yeah" He said quickly "Um hang on a minute"

He opened his door and his dad and Yuzu came falling down in front of him; he rolled his eyes go figure they were spying on him.  
"Sorry Ichigo" Yuzu apologised

"Just forget it" he said holding up his hand "Hey here's you stupid doll" he said handing her Kon who Ichigo knew was going to be very pissed about this but you only get what you deserve after all.

"Oh I was looking for him" she said "Thanks Ichigo" she walked off before he caught her

Ichigo glared at his dad next "What the hell are you doing?" he asked him

Isshin sped off quickly out of his son's room; Ichigo looked at Sakura who was giggling slightly at the sight.

"Sorry again" he sighed

"No problem" Sakura said smiling

Ichigo gave a small smile back; he didn't know what was compelling him to act like this towards the girl but she was so different and for some reason there was something pulling him towards her. He couldn't explain it though.

"Thank you Ichigo" she said

Ichigo looked confused "Thanks for what?" he asked

"Being my friend" she mumbled looking to the side slightly with a smile on her face

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head "Well; uh...y-you're welcome" damn; curse him for stuttering this girl was making him lose his cool image right then and there.

Sakura giggled a little; Ichigo placed his hand on top of her head. Sakura stayed silent and stared at Ichigo who was staring back at her.  
"What is it?" he asked still keeping his hand on her head  
"Um; nothing" Sakura said; she looked at the time and gasped "Oh it's really late I should get going" she said gently taking his hand off from her head; Ichigo brought his hand back to his side.

"Hey come on I'll walk you home" he offered

Sakura shook her head "N-No I don't want to trouble you anymore than I already have!" she insisted Ichigo shook his head "It's no trouble at all" he told her making his way through the door "You coming?" he asked her

"Oh" Sakura followed him out

The trip to her home was a silent one; in ten minutes Sakura and Ichigo reached her apartment. She unlocked the door.

"Thanks Ichigo" she muttered "I had a great time sorry if I bothered you" she apologised

"No problem" Ichigo replied to her

"Sure your gonna be ok on your own?" he asked

"I'm used to it Ichigo" she nodded and went into her home before closing the door "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" Ichigo said walking off when she closed the door; just as she closed the door his badge started to buzz and he knew it meant another hollow.

"Great" he sighed just how he wanted to end his evening

* * *

**There you have it everyone; I know it's been a while since I update any of my other stories other than welcome to my life but rest assured I'm working on them all. **


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